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  • The Atlantic

    Uber’s Secret Program Raises Questions About Discrimination

    In digital environments, the right to refuse service can be made invisible. That’s not necessarily a good thing.
    by Adrienne LaFrance Mar 03, 2017 4 minutes
    Source: Adnan Abidi / Reuters

    When a technology company decides to block a person from using its service, it’s usually obvious to that person. There may be an email to notify users when their account has been suspended. Or, you know, you try to log in and you can’t.

    With Uber, it isn’t so straightforward.

    The ridesharing giant created a mirror of its own app, a map-view intended to give some users the perception that they could hail a ride—even showing phantom cars moving across a map!—that was never going to show up.

    Uber confirmed to the existence of the program, which was , but reported. The program launched internally as Greyball and was later renamed VTOS, short for Violations of Terms of Service—a reflection of Uber’s justification for creating it in the first place.

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